Method of and apparatus for finishing straw hats



Feb; 19 1924.

o. WIEDEMAN METHOD OF'AND APPARATUS FOR FINISHING STRAW HATS Filed June a. 1921 INVENTOR.

@ orw I Z41. ATTORNEY.

Patented Fe la. l9, 192 3.,

METHOD or Ann Arrsaertrs Application filed. June 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR VIEDEMAN, a itizen of the United States, residing at liar-berth, in the county of Delawareand 5 State of Pennsylvania have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Finishing Straw Hats, fully described and represented in the following specification and the ac- 10 companying drawing, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for finishing straw hats. The invention aims to produce a better finished product than is secured with the finishing methods heretofore employed, while at the same time effecting a great saving in labor, time and space as compared with former methods.

Heretofore it has been the usual practice to finish straw hats, whether hand-shaped by ironing over an internal form or machine-shaped in a hydraulic press or otherwise, by placing the shaped hat on an internal form, placing over it a damp cloth and ironing lightly with a hot iron. In

the shaping of the hat the straw braid is crushed or flattened so that 'the surface has an unnatural and undesirable appearance. The finishing process is for the purpose of overcoming this flattened condition of the straw by raising the surface of the straw braid and restoring it more or less to its original and more pleasing appearance. This restoration of the condition and appearance of the straw results from the moistening of the straw by the steam produced by the application of the hot iron to the damp cloth in the customary method of finishing above referred to. This method of hand finishing requires skilled labor and is slow and expensive, and isotherwise unsatisfactory; The steam. from the damp cloth softens the straw at the tip edge, or square, of the crown as well as elsewhere in the tip and crown sides, and because of this softening of the tipedge the sharp edge or angle produced in the shaping of the hat is more or less lost; also, this method of finishing is apt to result in a sagging or bulging of thecentral part of the tip of the hat, and the cloth used frequently leaves a mark on the braid.

In accordance with my. method of finishing' straw hats, the outer surface of the OSCAR WIEDEMAN, OF PENN$YLVANIA.

F613 FINISHING STBAW' HATS.

1921. Serial No. 474,706. p I

shaped hat is steamed to raise the flattened braid with portions of the hat, and more especially the tip edge and adjacentportions of the tip and crown sides, covered:

to protectv them from direct accessofthe steam, and the hat is then dried with'the' tip "held fiat under. light pressure insuffic1ent to crush and flatten the braid again.

The drying is effected most desirablywith the hat placed upside down in a heated shallow external form which provides a the ironing of the old finishing method which was slow and expenslve, .1nvolv1ng the use of skilled labor and requiring relatively much space. The invention produces a finished hat which is free from the abovementioned defects of hats finishedby the ironing method.

The invention also includes the feature of protecting the portion of the side of the crown on which the ribbon band is tobe placed from the steam so that the-surface of this part of the hat is not restored but remains in the flattened and relatively smooth condition resulting from theshaping of the hat. The finished hat thus has a suitable relatively smooth surface for receivingthe ,band, and the use of the customary lining of paper or other material to protect the bandfrom the rough straw is avoided. V I

The apparatus which I have invented to facilitate the carrying out i of the. new method includes a heated external form adapted'to fit the tip and the adjacent portion of the side of the crown of a straw hat, and a tip weight. The external form is most desirably made of two separable parts, a bottomplate which may be heated in any suitable manner, andia rin fonts!) to protect the edge of the tip 4 om the steam as well as serving as a partuo f the external form; The tip weight pie-vised pany'ing drawings, and the finishing of hats in accordance with my method. In said drawings :Fig. 1 is a perspective view of thebottom plate; 2 I

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the ring;

Fig. 3 is "a perspective view of the tip weight; 2 r

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section of the tipweight showing one of the bolts connecting the pad to the metal portion of the weight; f

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the ring showing the position of the hat therein dur-- ing the teaming; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of the entire apparatus showing the position of the hat therein during drying.

.Theapparatus shown in the drawings includes an external form 10 adapted to engage the outer surface of the tip of a straw hat and the out-er surface of the side of'the crown adjacent to the tip, and best made of metal. Theform is made oftwo separable parts, a ring 11 and bottom plate 12. The ring 11' is formed to provide an upwardly extending side flange 13 and an inwardly extending horizontal or'bottom flange 1 1. These two flanges form a rectangular corner at their line of juncture15, which is shaped to fit the edge of the tip of the hats to befinished. The ring 11 is provided with a handle 16.

The bottom plate.12 has at its periphery ahorizontal supportingfiange 17. In the central portion of the bottom plate12 is the contact surface 18 whichis raised above the 'supportinglflange 17 by. a distance equal to the heightof the bottom flange 12 of the ring 11 and is of'a shape correspondingito that of the inner edgeof theflange 12. When, therefore, the ring 11' is placed on the bottomplate 1 2 as shownin '5, the contact surface 18 "of the bottom plate andthe upper surface of the bottom flange 12 of the ring lie in the same plane and provide a conti'nuous bottom for the'form.

'Mjea ns are provided for heating the external form '10 through the bottom plate 12: 'fAny suitable heating means may be used' 'for thispurpose, but aste'am box 19 a sj shown in Fig. 5 is desirable as it serves to maintain the plate 12 at a'substantially asse and Wli QP ra e The bottom plate 12 may be held in position by studs 21 on the steam box fitting into recesses 20 in the plate. '7

The tip weight 30 is provided at itsbottom with a soft pad 31, most desirably of soft rubber and secured by means of bolts 33 whose heads, 34 are vulcanized into the pad. The bolts pass up through holes 35 in the metal portion 82 of the weight and are secured by nuts 36. The pad 31 extends slightly beyond the edges ofthe metal portion of the tip weight, the periphery of the pad being such that the pad just fits within the crown of the hat in connectionwith which it is tobe used. The pad is most desirably sufliciently soft and extensible'so that the pressure caused by the weight of the metal part 82 tends to, cause the pad to extend laterally in all directions. Consethe hat as indicated in Fig. 5, the edge of the pad lightly presses or holds the side of the hat crown adjacent the tip edge against the side flange 11 of the form, while the lower surface of the pad presses the tip gently against the bottom of the form. The pad should not be substantially thicker than the height of the side flange 13 of the ring 11.

In finishing a hat according to my the ring 11 covers the outer surface of the tip edge and a narrow portion of the crown sides and of the tip adjacent to the edge. Before the padis placed in the ring 11, the'ring is heated to about the boiling temperature of water, preferably by leavingiit in place on the heated bottom plate 12. The: ring 11 with the hat supported therein isheld over .a steam pot or other source of supply of live steam (Fig. 5). ,T he steam strikes the unprotected outer surfacef'of thehat; and in sodoing raises the eyes and other parts ofthe'flattened braid and .restores *the braid more or less to its original condition. The moisture absorbed fromi'the steam by the straw will penetrate somewhat through the straw into the .portions' of the tip and crown side surfaces which are covered by the ring 11,.so that there willbe no line of demarcation apparent on either the crownfor the tip between the portion covered by the ring and the portion directly exposed to the steam. The moisture does not, however, reach to the ex treme edge of theitipfsufiiciently tc affect he. sha pliess en to thi d th hapmethod with the apparatus illustrated and quently, when the tip weight is placed in,.8

ing of the hat. The fact that the ring. 11 is heated prevents condensing of the steam on the ring.

,The steaming takes only a few seconds, and the ring 11 with the hat in it is then placed on the bottom plate 12 so that the hat is then in the heated external form made up of the bottom plate 12 and the rin l1. The tip weight 30 is then placed in't e hat (Fig. 6). The pressure of the tip weight applied to the part of the hat in the external form through the pad 31 serves to press the tip andi the adjacent portion of the side of the crown against the external form with a gentle force sufiicient to hold the tip flat and the tip edge square during the drying of the hat. The fact that the pressure is applied through the soft pad 31 into which the eyes of the braid on the inner surface of the tip and the crown side, which have been raised by the steaming, may penetrate, lessens the tendency with some straws of the contact with the form ,to flatten down the raised outer surfac of the braid.

When the drying has been completed,

which may take about five minutes, the tip weight is removed from the hat and the finished hat is then removed from the external form. The ring 11 has during the drying been reheated by its contact with the plate 12 and may be immediately used again to support another hat over the steam pot.

Hats finished by the method described are attractive in appearance, as the braid over the entire outer surface of the hat is so far restored to its original condition that it has no crushed or flattened appearance. At the same time the edge of the tip is sharper and more square than in hats finished in the old way.

In finishing hats as above described, and in formermethodsof finishing, the braid is raised and restored to a relatively rough condition over the entire outer surface of the hat including the lower portion of the side of the crown which is to be covered by the hat band. Such a rough surface is, however, not suitable for receiving the ribbon hat band as it spoils the appearance of the ribbon, and in order that the ribbon shall lie smooth it has heretofore been customary to place a band of heavypaper or like material around the hat under the ribbon of the hat band to protect the ribbon from the roughened braid of the hat. I avoid the need for such a lining for the hat band by so finishing the hat that the braid of the portion of the side of the crown which is to be covered by the hat band remains in the flat tened condition which it has after the hat is shaped and before it is steamed for finish- 1ng.

This is done in accordance with my invention by covering the lower portion of the,

plied to the hat as the hat band to be applied crown ofv the hat before the hat is steamed and is retained in place on the hat until the drying is completed. Nhen the band/10 is thus used,'the braid on the portion of the finished hat about which the hat band is to to thehat. I The band 40 is placed on the I gowillbe left flat and smooth just as it came from the hydraulic press or other shaping means. ',The hat band will lie smooth on a hat so finished without any paper or other lining. v What is claimed is: ,7, p

1. The method of finishing stiff straw hats after they have been shaped and pressed which comprises raising the braid which has been crushed injthe pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat with a portion of the surface covered to protect it fromdirect access of the steam.

v 2. The method of finishing stiff straw hats after they have been shapedand pressed which comprises raising the braid which has beencrushed in the pressing bysteaming the outer surface of the hat with a portion of the surface covered to protect it from direct access of the steam, and thereafter applying gentle pressure to-the tip to hold it fiat during the drying of'the hat.

8. The method of finishing stiff straw hats after they have been shaped and pressedwhich comprises raising the braid crushed in the pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat with the tip edge covered to protect it from direct access of the steam. 7

,4. The method of finishing stiff straw hats after they have been shaped and pressed which. comprises. raising the braid crushed in the pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat with the tip edge covered to protect it from directaccess of the steam, and thereafter gently pressing the tip against aheated surface.

5. The method of finishing strawhats after they have been shaped and pressed which comprises raising the braid crushed in the pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat with the lower portion of the side of the crown covered to protect it from; access of the steam, and thereafter drying the hat.

6. The method of finishing stiff straw hats after they, have been shaped and pressed which comprises raising the braid which has been crushed in pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat with the tip edge and the portion of the ti crown side immediately adjacent to t e tip of the hat with the tip edge and the -porhats which have been shaped and'pressed,

comprising raising the braid crushed in the pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat with the tip edge and the lower portion of the crown side covered to protect them against direct access of the steam, and thereafter applying gentle pressure to the tip to hold it'flat and keeping the lower portion of the crown side well covered until the hat is dry.

8. The method of finishing straw hats, which comprises steaming the outer surface tions of the .tip and crown side immediately adjacent the tip edge protected from direct access of the steam and with the lower portion of the side of the crown covered and thereafter gently pressingthe tip and the portion of the crown side adjacent to the tip downwardly and outwardly against a heated external form.

9. The method of finishing stiff straw hats after they have been shaped and pressed which comprises raising the braid crushed in the pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat, and thereafter gently pressing the tip between a hot plate and a yielding surface so as to hold the tip flat while it is drying without recrushing the braid.

10. The method of finishingstiif straw hats after they have been shaped and pressed which comprises raising the braid crushed in the pressing by steaming the outer surface of the hat, and thereafter gently pressing the tip and a portion of the crown side adjacent to the tip between a heated external form and a yielding surface. V

11. The vmethod of finishing stiff straw hats after theyhave been shaped andpressed which comprises covering the tip edge and the portions of the tip and crown side immediately adjacent the tip edge by placing the hat in a flanged ring, steaming the outer surface of the hat while in said ring, and thereafter retaining the hat in the ring'and gently pressing the tip against a heated plate. 7 V

12. Apparatus for use in finishing straw hats, comprising an external form consisting of a bottom plate having a peripheral supporting flange and a raised central contact portion and a removable ring having an internally extending bottom flange and an upwardly extending side flange, said ring being adapted to rest on the supporting flange of the. bottom plate with the upper surface of its bottom flange surrounding, and in the same plane with, the contact surface of the bottom plate;

13; Apparatus for use in'finishing hats, comprising an open form-retaining, supporting and protecting ring having a narrow inwardly extending bottom flange and a narrow upwardly extending side flange adapted to receive the tip edge of a straw hat and to fit against and cover the po1ftions of the tip and crown sidev adj acentto the tip edge while leaving the remainder of the tip and crown side uncovered so that they may besteamed.

14;. A tip weight for use in finishing straw hats, comprising a body portion forming a weight and a pad securedto the bottom of thebody portion and adapted to fit into the crown of a hat againstthe tip, said pad being of soft material and laterally extensible under the pressure of the weight of the body portion. r

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OSCAR WIEDEMAN. Witnesses:

A. JAREOKY, I A. L.'KENT. 

